Swine Flu Update

I only posted a few hours ago outlining the current threat of Swine Flu that started in Mexico and spread to a few Americans.

Since that post, there have been a few developments, and I’d like to share them with you.

According to CNN.Com:

Twenty-two students and three teachers in New Zealand, who returned from a three-week-long language trip to Mexico, may have been infected with the swine flu virus, officials said Sunday.

The 25 students and teachers at Auckland’s Rangitoto College returned to New Zealand via Los Angeles on Saturday.

Fourteen of them have shown flu-like symptoms, with four “more unwell than others,” said Dr. Julia Peters, clinical director of Auckland Regional Public Health Service.

The New Zealand health ministry informed the students and their families of provisional results of tests it conducted on the group. However, the World Health Organization will make the final determination after testing the specimens, Peters said.

She would not say what the provisional results indicated. The WHO results are expected back by midweek. The group remains quarantined at home.

Presently, the death toll in Mexico has risen to 81 people, and the number of potentially infected to 1,300.

Mexico has instated “new powers” which allow the Government to take special action. This includes the power to isolate sick people, enter homes or workplaces and regulate air, sea and land transportation to try to stop further infection.

According to MSNBC.COM:

The Mexican government issued a decree authorizing President Felipe Calderon to invoke special powers letting the Health Department isolate patients and inspect homes, incoming travelers and baggage.

So, there we have it for now. Please check back, as tomorrow there will be a brand new post highlighting some of the theories as to where this flu came from, how it was “created”, and whether or not there is an underlying agenda to the media’s panic over the Swine Flu. Keep checking back.